Admissions

Admissions Requirements

To be eligible for consideration for admission, applicants must fulfill the requirements
listed below. Application and admission into the PA Program is very competitive: meeting
the minimum requirements does NOT assure an interview for admission to the Master
of Medical Science Physician Assistant (MMS-PA) program.

Baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college or university at least by
August 31st of the year prior to matriculation

Minimum overall and science CASPA GPA 3.0

Completion of all pre-requisites prior to application

GRE less than 5 years old; combined score of 300 is considered competitive

Minimum of 500 direct patient contact hours

All applicants must have graduated by August 31 of the year prior to the program’s
matriculation

All clinical/shadow hours (500 minimum) must be completed prior to application submission

Information and Deadlines

The MMS-PA Program participates in a holistic admissions process and accepts one cohort
per year.

The application window, per CASPA, opens on April 26, 2018 and will close on August
1, 2018.

A telephone or personal interview is granted to an applicant by invitation only.

Interview days will be held on September 5, 6, 7, 10, and 11. Applicants only need
to attend one interview day.

Admission decision letters will be sent out on September 14.

Admissions Policy

UTHSC's Physician Assistant Program evaluates applications using a holistic process.
Strong applications show evidence of academic potential, knowledge of the health care
system, motivation, personal maturity, self-assurance, and good interpersonal skills.
Other factors used may include Tennessee residency, UT alumni, military experience,
under-represented minority status and a willingness to provide care to the underserved.
The committee may give consideration when granting an interview to an applicant with
a strong history of co-curricular activities, health care experience, military experience,
applicants from groups currently underrepresented in the PA profession, non-traditional
students, and those who represent the first in their family to pursue higher education.

Deferment Policy

If you are accepted for admission, you may be able to defer program enrollment for
one (1) year, with a guaranteed position in the program for the next academic year.
You must provide an acceptable reason to the Program such as: inability to pay, medical
concerns, military obligation, personal and/or family obligations. To be considered
for a deferment you must submit, in writing, a formal request to the Department Chair
on of before October 15 of the application year.

Deferment decisions will be made on a case by case basis and the applicant will be
notified within one week of request.

If the deferment is granted, then a seat will be held in the next cohort. The tuition
deposit will not be refunded. All requirements for admission into the next cohort
must be met (tuition deposit, current background check, current immunizations, etc.)

Accreditation Status

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center Physician Assistant Studies Program
received Accreditation-Provisional status from ARC-PA in September 2013, admitted
the first class in January 2014 and graduated its first cohort in December 2015. In
July 2016, the program was relocated to the College of Medicine to better align institutional
resources with the program’s mission and goals. To build a strong foundation in leadership,
Stephanie Storgion, MD was appointed the new chair of the PA program in June 2016,
and Kristopher Maday, MS, PA-C became the new program director in January 2017. We
now have stable leadership and a stable core of faculty for the program. Our second
cohort of students achieved a 100% first-time pass rate on the PANCE and we are confident
that this is a predictor of future success for our students. These changes should
move the program in a strong positive direction to be the leader in PA education in
the state of Tennessee.

In October 2016, the program had a full accreditation site visit. During the preparation
for this visit, only one cohort had graduated and the second cohort was in the middle
of the clinical year. As a result of this site visit, ARC-PA placed the program on
Accreditation-Probation status. As a condition of probation status, the university
is required to provide the following statement:

At its January 2017 meeting, the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant
(ARC-PA) placed The University of Tennessee Health Science Center Physician Assistant program sponsored by The University of Tennessee Health Science Center on Accreditation-Probation status until its next review in March 2019.

Probation is a temporary status of accreditation conferred when a program does not
meet the Standards and when the capability of the program to provide an acceptable
educational experience for its students is threatened.

Once placed on probation, programs that still fail to comply with accreditation requirements
in a timely manner, as specified by the ARC-PA, may be scheduled for a focused site
visit and/or risk having their accreditation withdrawn.

Specific questions regarding the Program and its plans should be directed to the Program
Director and/or the appropriate institutional official(s).

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center Physician Assistant Studies program
is committed to achieving full accreditation status in March of 2019 and has already
begun preparing for this review. This current accreditation status has no negative
impact on the ability for the program to accept students or for the current students
to be eligible to sit for the PANCE, or limit in any way graduates’ ability to practice
in the future.